<p>Thanks!......</p>
<p>Yeah, I think Corranged might definitely be right on the latin reqs. The only really way to know for sure is to make sure that he brings it up with his adviser when he gets a chance.</p>
<p>As an aside, and this should be noted by all incoming first years/transfers and their parents... its really not a good idea to study for placement exams. Really. Language, if you haven't taken it in a while, is perhaps an exception, but don't try to review for calc or physics. As obvious as it might seem, the placement exams are designed exactly for that - placement. If you study for them you could run the risk of being placed into a calc/physics section that will move too fast, and trust me, that's not fun.</p>
<p>I am very confused about corranged's view of the language competency requirement. My daughter had a 3 on the French AP, and placed into 202, but she absolutely had the impression from her advisor that she was REQUIRED to take three quarters of French in order to meet the core requirement. This was something of a bitter pill, so it was not a matter of confusing "recommended" with "required", at least I don't think it was.</p>
<p>[double post]</p>
<p>Her adviser is an idiot--or mine is. Since I like being right, and I believe I am right on this, I'm going to go with the former. :)</p>
<p>The three ways I know to pass the U of C language competency requirement:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>AP languages were not offered at my high school. I took the Spanish placement test during orientation and was placed into 202. To pass the language competency requirement for the core, all I had left to do is to schedule, take, and pass a Spanish language interview with a member of the language staff. </p></li>
<li><p>One of my friends took a language AP in high school and got a 3+ (no clue what her actual score was), so she's done with the language requirement. I don't think she gets credit for those classes, but she does pass competency. </p></li>
<li><p>My roommate came in without any language and took 101-102-103 in Spanish. Then in the spring she took and passed the language interview.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Remember that many majors have their own language requirements that aren't met with competency or AP credit. Is it possible, JHS, that your daughter's adviser was speaking in the context of a major's language requirement? Language requirements for majors can be quite different than the school's requirement. Some majors require the actual 101-102-103-whatever classes, while other majors require academic work done in a non-English major, and others require something different.</p>
<p>I think[ hope] that because my son is NOT looking to receive "credit" or "placement" for his AP score [which would require him to take the placement test], he is then done with the language requirement, unless he decides to try a new language at Chicago. He'll find out in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch and lots of luck to your roommate.</p>
<p>thanks for the help! I wouldn't mind having a chipotle or potbelly's near campus, but I think I'll live :)</p>
<p>there is, actually, a potbelly's near campus... it's on 55th and Lake Park, in the same shopping center as Walgreens, the Hyde Park Co-Op Grocery Store, and Office Max.</p>
<p>This may seem general, but I'm interested in possibly pursuing a Political Science degreee, anything you'd want to say about the program at Chicago, like what it entails, overall workload, anything else you want to say about it? I was thinking about Sociology too, but am thinking I need something a little more bankable. Thanks.</p>
<p>Indeed... the Potbelly in Hyde Park opened up during the summer before my 2nd year. It has negatively affected my life to the extreme. Prior to its opening, my roommate and I would justify trips downtown to potbelly only on the condition that we go to Ratner first and lift or do some sort of cardio. That's part of how I got myself in shape enough to do varsity swimming, hahah. With the potbelly here... well... the incentive was removed... <em>sigh</em>.</p>
<p>Let's see... the Poli Sci program at Chicago... well, as you probably read in my first post, I'm going to graduate this spring with my B.A. in Poli Sci. Overall, I'd say that I've had a really good experience with the department. A lot of the classes that I've taken in the department have been very interesting, and fun to boot. There have been some quarters where I felt that the class offerings were a little bit anemic, and in one of those cases I opted to take a course from the Poli Sci graduate department, which worked out really well and ended up introducing me to my future B.A. adviser. The work load hasn't been bad at all - it's really rather typical of any of the social sciences departments. At times lots of reading, usually at least a few papers per quarter... not too bad at all. The only stressful class I experienced in that regard was in the graduate department - my entire grade rested on designing an experiment in Political Psychology and writing a very long paper about how the experiment would work...</p>
<p>Of course, the U of C is also famous for our Sociology department. I think the best way to determine which of the two (or both) is best for you is to just take a class in each department when you are able and see what you like best.</p>
<p>hahaha. the "bankable" option for either of those is law school. Or whatever you please, really. One recent sociology major I know is now in real estate.</p>
<p>In both majors, the BA paper is optional, so I imagine that the overall workload is not as intense as it could be in a major where the BA is required.</p>
<p>The B.A. paper is only sort of optional. To graduate in either of the majors you need to either write the B.A. (a 38-50 page paper), or write an extended 20+ page paper for a class and have it approved. Plus (at least in poli sci), if you go the 20 pager route you also need to take an extra two classes, and you arn't eligible for honors.</p>
<p>I guess what I'm just trying to say is that while I wouldn't consider the work load for either major too burdensome (it's not bio-chem, after all), there is probably little overall difference between the two tracks within the majors.</p>
<p>Ah. Good to know. I guess I just saw "senior seminar" in the course catalog and didn't realize it entailed a major paper.</p>
<p>Majors at Chicago come in varieties of hard and harder. I guess what we can agree is that poly sci is not in the "harder" category.</p>
<p>How does course selection work for incoming freshman? Do I just say what courses I want to take and my adviser puts me in a random section or can I choose a particular section? I'm not much of a morning person and after looking over the course evaluations, there are professors who are more appealing to me than others, so I'm not keen on taking an early class with a random prof. </p>
<p>Also, the time schedules website shows that Intro to Micro currently has 74 students in it, and for enrollment limit is says consent required. I also see the room capacity is 160 so I guess I'm a little confused. Will I be able to take this class? </p>
<p>I've also heard that courses close and open randomly throughout o-week so that people who meet with their advisers later in the week aren't at a disadvantage. Can anyone elaborate on this?</p>
<p>"How does course selection work for incoming freshman? Do I just say what courses I want to take and my adviser puts me in a random section or can I choose a particular section?"</p>
<p>You have a nice little group meeting sometime during O-week where you get your course catalog and time sheets, along with the requirements for what you have to take, and you can sort of just pick and choose before you meet with your advisor to finalize it. </p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about anything because almost every class you're going to take will be open throughout the year, or at least during another quarter. Just do what everybody does and take a bunch of core classes and maybe one extra one in a potential major field.</p>
<p>Jack is correct. During o-week you will have at least one (maybe two) group meetings with your adviser to discuss the core reqs, and how the sequences function. You will also have an individual appointment with your adviser to actually go through the process of registering. You should attempt to get as many core things out of the way now, as the process has changed in the time since I was a first year. In my first year, it didn't really matter so much what year you were in regards to enrolling in core classes - now, first and second years get priority for core classes, followed by fourth and then (last) third years.</p>
<p>That means that if you put off core reqs too long, you can have a difficult time of completing them (at the times you want to)...</p>
<p>As for the cmore/timeschedules question, I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point. What many incoming (and current, for that matter) students don't know about the enrollment limits is that the numbers aren't always completely truthful. For larger courses, if they are cross-listed (ie they have a class number in multiple departments) it is sometimes the case that there are separate enrollment caps for each different department.</p>
<p>For example, let's say there was a class called "Intro to History of Economics of Southeast Asia". Let's say this class was listed in the Economics, History, and Political Science departments and that the total enrollment for the class is 100 students. It is quite possible, that enrollment numbers would be broken down into something like: 50 students registering from the economics section, 25 students registering from the history section, and 25 students registering from the poli sci section.</p>
<p>Which brings me to my next point... even if a class is at max enrollment and/or says "consent required" it is usually a smart idea to head to the class on the first day if you'd really like to take it. A surprising number of people are re-jiggering their schedules well into the 3rd week of the quarter, and it's usually possible to persuade a prof to let you "pink slip" (ie, register using a pink slip from the registrar's office) into the class even if it is technically full.</p>
<p>On top of all that, for many core/intro classes there are sometimes hidden quotas set aside soley for incoming first years. This is because us returning students have the entire summer to register for classes, and first years only get a week.... the hidden limits help to ensure first year access to core courses.</p>